ASHTON ROLLED OUT of the hotel bed leaving a brunette fast asleep. He answered the phone with a yawn.

“Sir, we have a problem with the cargo.”

“What’s happened?” His gut clenched. He knew leaving the woman in the container was a bad idea.

“There’s light coming out of the container,” whispered the man on the other end of the line.

Oh no. “It can’t be. I sealed it myself. It has wards on it.”

“There is light, sir. I’m staring at it now. No sounds, but light. I can feel an aura, it’s, wow. It’s overpowering me, but none of the other people on the ship recognize it.”

Ashton bolted out of bed and rifled through the clothes on the floor. “When was the last time you checked on it?”

“Yesterday, there was no activity. One of the guys on watch noticed it.”

“No matter what you have to do, do not let anything come out of that container. Text me your coordinates.”

Ashton called Xavier and told him to secure a helicopter. He could not lose his cargo. He didn’t care if he had to kill every human on board and feed them to his creature.